When your friends are as horny as you are bored
by trueplaya
Summary: It doesn't matter if they hook up or not, because everyone is gonna get screwed.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: You bored now?

The thing to understand is that in order to be a great grandmaster, like Robin and Morgan were, you had to know tactics and people at the same time. Father and daughter were well liked and respected around the camp for their (usually) successful strategies, skill on the battlefield and overall pleasant demeanor. It was almost like they were perfect; even though it was known that Robin was meant to be a vessel for Grima to end the world, the Shepherds had teamed up and brought him down. Along the way, many "future children", as the Shepherds named them, showed up. They basically came from an alternate future about as broken as Henry's childhood after the giant wolf died. With their help on the battlefield and knowledge of future events, the world was saved.

But the conflict wasn't over for Robin and Morgan. Oh no, far from it. See, when you're as smart as they are, many normal things in life that are entertaining for others are boring. This would not do. The world was saved, and now these two would be bored for the rest of their days? As Brady would say, "Oh hell no, fuck that bullshit!" Whether he was avoiding runs or they were avoiding boredom didn't matter- the term was being used in the same context.

"Wow dad, it's been beyond boring for the last two months," Morgan quipped one day.

"I know. Honestly, I don't even know what to do right now," Robin replied. He really hated seeing her daughter like that. Being extremely bored, he thought, may be on the level of excruciating pain as one of the worst feelings he experienced. He knew what he was thinking, and what she was thinking- the peace they had worked so hard for, while undeniably good for everyone, made things quite dry. Then again, when you fight in a war where the world is on the line, and you also happen to be incredibly intelligent, it's hard to create excitement.

Whether for good or bad, that was about to change very soon.

In the future timeline where Morgan came from, Chrom had married Sumia between the war with Plegia and Valm. That was not the case here; in fact, while some had tied the knot, many Shepherds hadn't married yet. However, that was going to change, starting today.

Suddenly, Cordelia came into the room. "Listen Robin, you're a friend of mine, so I'd like to tell you-" Robin knew instantly where she was going with this.

"You have a crush on Chrom and you want my help in getting you married with him," Robin finished for Cordelia.

"Wait, you knew?" Cordelia was quite surprised, and that in itself surprised Robin.

"Two things Cordelia. One, you didn't do a very good job of hiding your feelings, and two, pretty much everyone in camp knows you're trying to get in Chrom's bedroom. So, after a while, the Shepherds went and told me." At this sudden revelation, Cordelia's face went as red as her hair.

"Oh, well that's…" Cordelia trailed off, still embarrassed.

"Something that will no longer be a problem for you. Listen, if Morgan and I can make strategies that help save the world, we can most certainly get you a dosage of the prince's holy sword. We're gonna help you get some of that penal activity, you know what I'm saying?" Sometimes Robin would talk like this when addressing Shepherds; this was after they convinced him that the camp did not need a second Miriel, except in male form.

Cordelia smiled, despite his crude language; it was obvious they wanted to help her out. "Meet up with us later tonight. We will discuss our strategy then in the very place we are standing," Morgan added.

"Thank you," Cordelia said as she walked out. Robin and Morgan both flashed a now rare grin at each other. Then, it was all business.

"The first step is getting him to notice her. Like goddamn, you have to be a special type of stupid to not realize that someone's had a crush on you since childhood. Now, what kind of scenarios should we invent?" Morgan mused. She wouldn't have much time to think about it, however, as someone else walked in while she was thinking.

"Robin, Morgan, greetings. I will get to the point: I have run into quite a big problem involving my personal feelings and Princess Lucina," Laurent suddenly explained.

"Oh, no…" Robin knew exactly where this was going.

"Quite simply, I am attempting to court Princess Lucina in an effort to be in a romantic relationship with her, hopefully culminating in marriage. For a long time I have had these feelings, but never knew how to handle or act on them. Therefore, I seek your help."

Morgan spoke up. "You know I won't lie, that actually caught me off guard. Ok, so just curious: do you remember the last time you talked to her casually? Not about war or battles, just making conversation?"

"Conversing with others has never been something I was adept at, as people are often confused by my manner of speech and vocabulary. However, I do not believe I can recall the last time I spoke with her about a lighter subject." Laurent replied.

"Oh, shit…" Morgan started to trail off, realizing that Laurent was somehow even more socially awkward than she had imagined. "We're talking about starting all the way from the beginning here. And then we have to hook you up with her before one of her no doubt many suitors does. My god, this is some tough sledding we're looking at here."

"I understand that my social competence is lower than that of the average human being. Could you perhaps teach me how to act in social circumstances, so that I may begin courting Lucina?" Laurent asked, almost begged, even, judging by his tone of voice. Morgan couldn't say no, especially not to a good friend.

"Yes, Laurent, we promise to help you out. Meet us later this afternoon, and our plan will come to fruition!" Morgan exclaimed. Laurent thanked the both of them and walked out. "Honestly, we may have a harder set-up here than getting Cordelia with Chrom."

"Remove the may in that sentence, because I don't even know where to start. And it looks like you don't either," Robin replied.

"Yeah, I hate to say it, but it looks like-" Once again, Morgan was interrupted, this time mid sentence rather than mid thought.

"I need help!" Inigo exclaimed from outside the tent. "Look, it's about Lucina…" There was no reason for either of them to listen to the rest of his sentence; it was quite obvious what he was talking about.

" _Oh my God, is he fucking serious right now?"_ Robin didn't say a word, but that was what his facial expression told Morgan.

" _Well, he is serious. About fucking. And Inigo generally doesn't lie. If he does, you can see it coming from Tellius, or any other foreign continent for that matter."_ Morgan mentally replied to her father. Even though they had tuned out almost everything Inigo said, they still knew what Inigo said.

"So, you want us to help you get with Lucina. You, of all people?" Morgan asked, more rhetorically than for an answer, but she got it anyways.

"Yes. I believe I have fallen in love with her, and I wish to spend my life with her. However, she doesn't seem to have the strongest image of me. As you are a good friend of mine, I would like your help in courting her," Inigo explained.

Now, Morgan was going to refuse his request, as they had already planned on helping Laurent get together with Lucina. However, it wasn't that simple. For one, he wasn't lying when he said they were friends. She was as close a friend to Inigo as she was to Laurent. How could she possibly break his heart and tell him "No, I'm already trying to get Laurent into her bedroom?" Also, she owed him for all the times he saved her ass on the battlefield during the war. Additionally, it was quite apparent that either of them would make a better husband than her no doubt countless sleazy royal suitors.

And finally, if she was being fully honest with herself, she didn't know whom she would rather see get with Lucina: Inigo or Laurent? She had teased Lucina about "hooking up" with many boys before, but nothing ever serious came of it. In her mind, she had always imagined that Laurent or Inigo would make a good husband for Lucina. Now, she had the opportunity to basically choose who would get with her. Morgan had both Laurent and Inigo in the palm of her hand. Well, her and Lucina.

And she was always comfortable with giving orders and having people follow her. She wasn't evil; it's just that she was suited for leading people. "Okay Inigo, meet us tomorrow morning. You had better be serious about this and not go around flirting with other girls or you're a 'dead motherfucker', as Brady tends to say."

"Thank you! I'll meet you then." Robin waited until he was sure Inigo had left to speak to Morgan.

"What the fuck did you do that for?!" Robin exclaimed.

"Calm down, I'll have it covered. They'll never find out about the other's romantic plot. Listen, I know how to make crafty plans and manipulate people without them knowing. I learned from you," Morgan replied sarcastically.

Robin couldn't exactly make a crafty reply to that. "Oh, damn…" He was actually kind of impressed at his daughter's snark. "Well, anyways, how is Lucina's relationship with Inigo?" His voice was rather high as he tried to change the subject.

A response came. However, it wasn't the one he was looking for. "Um, Robin, do you think you could help me with something?" Sumia asked from outside.

Robin let her in. " _Oh, goddamnit, here we go again…"_ Morgan thought to herself as she desperately hoped she wouldn't follow the same path as the previous three guests.

"Anyways Robin, I have a bit of a problem with someone. I have… well, romantic feelings for this one guy, and the issue is I can't confess them. Or maybe, I don't know how," Sumia explained.

 _You know, it should be pretty obvious who she's talking about, but just in case…_ "And this guy is…?" Robin thought to himself before asking.

"Chrom." _Oh, how surprising. Wait, shit! This is so fucked! How do I explain to her that I'm helping Cordelia?_ Romance was a rather new field for Robin, as he had never bothered to explore it all that much during the wars. Sumia and the others did not approach Robin because he was a romance expert; they went to him because they liked him.

Whenever Robin was put in a bad situation on the battlefield or in a social gathering, the first thing he would always do was try to make more time. Whether that meant changing the subject, running away or creating a distraction didn't matter; he just had to take focus off the weak spot or awkward topic of conversation. This may have been the worst situation he found himself in, so he would have to ensure neither of them figured out about their romantic intentions. Because it was quite obvious that neither he or they were ready to know the truth. Until then, he would need to buy time for himself and craft plans- to get one of them into Chrom's bedroom, to ensure no one aside from him and Morgan knew of the plans and, maybe, in the worst case scenario- to tell Sumia, Cordelia, Laurent and Inigo what was really happening in the least awkward way possible.

The third plan was one he had no intention of executing, so it was time for him to devote his energy to the first two plans. "Okay then, I tell you what. Meet us tomorrow afternoon, and we'll find out how you can confess your love, okay?" Robin said gently. It was always fascinating how words, how you looked while saying them, the words chosen and the tone of voice while speaking could affect someone so greatly. Sumia walked out of the room, leaving Robin and Morgan alone, and mercifully, with no one else looking for romantic advice.

"You bored now?" Robin asked to no one in particular.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Help two, hurt two

"Well we can't exactly say no after accepting their offers. What should we do now?" Morgan asked.

"Between Sumia and Cordelia, only one of them can marry Chrom. And with Inigo and Laurent, only one can marry Lucina. The first question is, who are we truly going to help here?" Robin replied.

"Honestly, I really don't know yet…" Morgan trailed off.

"Well, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure Cordelia gets married with Chrom. As for Laurent and Inigo, I don't know them quite as well. I'll let you evaluate them," Robin declared.

"Why Cordelia and not Sumia?" Morgan asked earnestly.

"For one, she's one of my closest friends. Also, I think she'd make a better queen," Robin stated matter of factly. Morgan agreed that was sound reasoning; Cordelia had a much better idea of how Ylissean politics worked (it was one of the many things that the "perfect" pegasus knight studied), she was much more refined and wasn't constantly tripping over herself. Not like Sumia was necessarily a bad person, she just probably wasn't the right person to become queen. Then again, few people were. Robin continued, "If you want, then go ahead and ask for help from some other people, I know I will. Just make sure they won't tell anyone of what's going on." He then left the room.

Morgan sighed; she went from being bored to being put in an utterly awful position. She had highly suspected that Inigo and Laurent had crushes on Lucina long before today's confession; that just confirmed it for her. But now both of them were asking her for help. How was she going to pull this off? Her father was correct; she had to set up one while making sure both of them never knew about the other. The problem was, how would she do it? If they ever did find out, her friendships with Laurent, Inigo and Lucina alone would be eternally changed (for the worse), and then if the rest found out? She didn't even want to go farther down that line of thinking.

 _Damn, who's it going to be? Laurent is smarter, so he could probably do a good job setting up policies. Then again, Inigo is better at socializing, which means he'd make for a better negotiator. My dad's right. I'll need some help with this. And I know exactly where to look._

"Excuse me? You there?" Morgan asked. She knew that Severa could hear her from outside.

"Yeah, what do you want?" She replied, with her usual snark. Severa spoke with that tone of voice with almost everyone, even her friends. Good thing Morgan happened to be one of those friends. And apparently, so was Owain, as he was in the room as well.

"Hello there, famed tactician of lore! What brings you here?" Owain, for whatever reason, had a thing for speaking in a very over the top manner. Many wondered and asked why he didn't become an actor instead of fighting. When he replied, the farthest he ever got through his explanation before people lost interest or his meaning was halfway through. That last sentence would be considered normal by his standards.

"I have a problem that I can't bring to anyone else…" Morgan started. Her father was elsewhere, but telling the same story; only he was with Gaius and Ricken.

"...and that's how I got in this scenario, and I'm asking for your help. Because in order for this to resolve with the best possible solution, I will be needing assistance," Robin finished explaining.

"Well, you can count me out of this one. If they find out, I'm pretty much screwed for life. I'm already a criminal, I don't need anymore dirt on my name," Gaius said flatly after finishing his third lollipop for the day.

"Yeah, it's not that I dislike you Robin, it's just… it seems disingenuous, you know?" RIcken replied, more nervously.

It was a good thing Robin knew both of their weaknesses, and how to exploit them. Otherwise, the conversation would have ended there. "So I found these stores. Yeah, I just came across these stores one day, and it turns out that one of them sells the best sweets in the continent. The other, meanwhile, sells old and new magic tomes. Anyway, I was thinking of some people who would be willing to visit these establishments…"

In the other room, Severa was bringing up a counter argument to Morgan's sweet talking. "So, how are we supposed to know that there are two more Anna's out there, one that owns a shop selling clothes and beauty products and another that runs a theater which also sells 'fine literature' as you put it?"

"What, you think I'm playing, Severa?" Morgan pulled out a bag containing a fantasy book (Owain's favorite genre) and a kimono.

"Damn, this kimono is nice. Real nice, and it's so soft!" Severa said earnestly as she put it on, which was a rare occasion. Owain blushed when he saw her. When Owain got into a book, it could be very hard to break his focus, which meant that Severa looked good in the garment. And she knew it.

Elsewhere, Gaius was lying on the floor; the candy apple he had just eaten was of such a high quality that his body could not process how good it was. Ricken, on the other hand, was racking his brain with the kinds of new spells he could conjure just off the one tome that Robin had shown him.

"If you help me…" Robin started.

"I promise to show you where these places are," Morgan declared.

Needless to say, Gaius, Ricken, Owain and Severa were all on board.

Soon, the six conspirators were all in the same room, trying to find out how to deal with the situation at hand.

"So anyways, we're trying to get have Cordelia get with Chrom. Partially because she's been crushing on Chrom since she was a small child, and mostly because she'd be a better queen than Sumia. As for Lucina…" Robin gestured to Morgan.

"Um… truth be told, I don't know who I should actually help yet, between Laurent and Inigo…" Morgan trailed off nervously.

"Well, that's a great start," Severa replied, the sarcasm returning to her voice.

"I say we help Inigo. It should be easier because he's less awkward than Laurent," Ricken said.

"Yeah, can't really argue with that," Robin agreed.

"Sounds good," Gaius replied briefly.

"Ok, let's go with that," Morgan said again. However, she hadn't really made up her mind yet. To mask this fact, she continued. "Going on, you can't tell anyone else about what we're doing. We will try to get Cordelia with Chrom and Inigo with Lucina, but if it doesn't work out, then we can try to set up Laurent and Sumia. Don't start acting suspicious, but make sure that you're hiding the nature of what's happening here. All of us are going to be helping each other, but Owain and Severa are mostly gonna work with me, who are working with Inigo. Gaius and Ricken will be working with my dad, who's working with Cordelia. Got it?"

There was a simultaneous "yeah" from everyone in the room. First, Robin, Ricken and Gaius had to help Cordelia. "Okay, so you all know the set up. Anyways, she'll be here very soon now. Just play it cool, okay?" Robin ordered. They silently agreed.

"Oh, Gaius and Ricken?" Cordelia asked as she walked in. She clearly wasn't expecting the two of them to be there.

"They're gonna be helping out here. Listen, this is going to be a covert, black operation. You don't tell anyone what we're doing here, okay?" Cordelia nodded; she knew that things would somehow get even more awkward between her and Chrom if he found out that she had a crush on him by realizing that his fellow Shepherds were trying to help her get married to him.

"Alright, so we gotta get you closer to him. First, you'll need to engage in actual conversation with Chrom. Not like a brief talk, or discussing troop formations or battle reports, a normal ass conversation, know what I'm saying?" Robin then gestured to Ricken and Gaius, so they could explain their part in Cordelia's love life.

"As my mentor Miriel noted, repeated conversation can help lead to a romantic relationship. She found this by observing the relationships of the Shepherds that eventually married and had children," Ricken declared.

"Wait, how do you- oh god. Never mind, I don't want to know," Gaius said, cutting himself off mid sentence. The concept of Miriel secretly spying on couples within the Shepherds as they did… whatever they did was clearly not a pleasant one when Gaius gave it further thought.

"Anyway, it doesn't appear that Chrom is going to make the first move on his own. He's about as dense as volcanic rock. So we're gonna go aggressive here. Today, you are gonna ask him out for lunch," Robin explained.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. I'm going to ask him out for a date right away? Shouldn't I go slower instead?" Cordelia asked.

"On the contrary, there are no doubt many people in your same spot. Some of which have more power and have been plotting to get into his bedroom for quite a long time. Since we don't know the pace at which these other ladies are going, we should try to get you close to him before some other gold digger does, you know what I'm saying?" Robin countered.

"Okay, I see your point. Anyways, how should I do this? I get nervous whenever I talk or get close to him," Cordelia said, getting nervous just thinking of talking with her longtime crush.

"Look, man, you've just gotta ask him. Ain't no playing around, you just gotta get in there and ask him on a date, you feel me?" Gaius chimed. "He's just walking around the camp right now, so you should be able to get a clear conversation in."

Cordelia's resolve returned. "Alright, let's do this." She took the lead, while the other three followed behind. No one suspected that they were trying to set up Cordelia with Chrom. Once she reached Chrom, the three men hid behind a wall where no one was already hiding, and they peered over to see the conversation.

"Um, hi Chrom…" Cordelia started trailing off, like she almost always did. Damnit, why was this so hard?

"Oh, Cordelia. Something you want to talk with me about?" Chrom appeared to be more confident as he replied. In reality, despite the mask, he was quite nervous and awkward when talking with women when the discussion wasn't combat.

"There's this really nice restaurant in the city. I was wondering…" _Oh God, please take the hint…_

 _Wait. Is Cordelia asking me out? Holy fucking shit! No, wait, now what am I supposed to do?_ "Umm, you were wondering what?" This sentence evoked a quietly angry reaction from the three men in hiding.

"Are you fucking kidding me with that shit? She practically spelled it out for you, man!" Gaius whisper shouted.

"So this is how a man with those looks and that kind of power is still unmarried," Robin said flatly, the disappointment evident in his voice.

Ricken had his palm pressed up against his forehead. "I didn't think he'd be great at talking to women, but damn, that's just kind of sad, honestly…"

"Do you think you would, um, like to go with me to this restaurant?" Cordelia asked. She stared at the ground, as though to hide the blush on her face.

"Uh, sure. How does tomorrow afternoon sound? I won't be doing anything by then." Chrom replied.

 _Yes! He accepted my date proposal!_ Cordelia said in her head. The three Shepherds behind the wall were also cheering.

"It was a little awkward, a little ugly, but she got it done," Ricken remarked.

"Now that's how you do it," Gaius said, relieved.

"Talk about making it hard on yourself," Robin noted.

With that dealt with, Laurent was talking with three of his fellow "future children" about how to ask a woman out on a date.

"So what I should do is be confident?" He asked the "matchmakers".

"Yeah. If you come in there with bad posture, a stammering voice, and just overall look nervous, there's no way it's going to work," Morgan replied.

"Okay then. What else should I do?"

"Appearance. Make sure you look good, confident like we said earlier, wear nice clothes when asking her and while you're on the date, assuming you get there that is," Severa added with a hint of snark at the end.

"In addition, you do not want to appear too forward. For you see, you do not ask someone on a first date and start talking about, how would Brady say it, things to do when you start fuc-" Owain was once again cut off.

"What he's trying to say is, don't get too aggressive. Just take it slowly and let your relationship slowly build up, you know what I'm saying?" Morgan said, finishing Owain's sentence for him.

"I'll have you know that I have no intention of suggesting any sexual actions with Lucina for the time being. Of course, I would be lying if I said I never wanted to-"

"Alright Laurent, I think it's time that we get out and get you to ask her. We don't want to waste time, after all," Severa interfered. Laurent would be mildly annoyed under normal circumstances, but these weren't exactly normal circumstances. _Thank god he stopped. I don't even want to know what he was going say next._

So the four friends went off to find the serious and stoic princess.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: No Hint, No Clue, And All Are Confused

As always, Laurent was analyzing the situation in his head, going over what he could do and what the outcomes could be.

 _So when I ask her on a "date", it seems there are two possible outcomes. One being, she could decline my proposition. I wager this would harm my chances with Lucina, and my own emotional state as well. The other is that she could accept. If that happens, then I believe that I will feel relieved and confident._

It was such a simple thing. Striking conversation with someone and asking that person for something was much easier than performing a science experiment with all the repetition involved, supplies needed, and everything else that went into it.

Well, in theory at least. In practice, it was much harder than it seemed. Why it was this way, Laurent still didn't know. He had come up with many ideas on what made the act so difficult: fear of rejection was probably the biggest one. But the time for thinking had come and gone, now he had to ask a Lucina that he was very quickly approaching out on a date. After some hesitation, he walked up to her and started the conversation.

"Hello Lucina," Laurent started.

"Oh, Laurent. What can I do for you?" Lucina asked.

"Well, you see…" The words were in Laurent's mouth; they just refused to fall out. In another room, Morgan, Owain and Severa could not see Laurent and Lucina, but they could hear what was going on, listening intently, hoping that he would get the courage to ask her the famous question.

 _What could Laurent possibly want to ask me?_ Lucina wondered. Laurent wasn't the best at talking to people, but he usually did not have pauses this long during a conversation. "I was wondering if, you, uh…" _Why is this so difficult?_ Laurent thought, frustrated with himself.

 _Okay, this is peculiar. What could possibly have him so reluctant to speak? Alright, let's see what's going on now._ "Laurent, what is your predicament?" She finally asked.

Now he was full on blushing. "Umm…" _I really hope she doesn't notice me blushing…_

"And now you're blushing. Oh, no way…" Lucina was starting to figure it out. "Okay, so you and I are good friends, so you're trying to ask me a question. But for some odd reason, you can't ask, and your face is as red as a tomato."

Meanwhile, Laurent's three accomplices were in the other room, still listening closely to the conversation. Somehow, they were able to contain their excitement enough to where they were only whispering.

"Come on Lucina, you're smart, you should know what it is by now," Morgan said quietly.

"It's about to get real good," Severa whispered, putting emphasis on the "real" in her sentence.

"My cousin, I believe you know what this fine gentleman and scientist is thinking," Owain said, for once keeping his voice down.

"Well Laurent," Lucina continued, "to be honest, I didn't think you were into that sort of thing for the longest time. You were always so preoccupied with your studies and magic." Laurent's face was beginning to seriously heat up from blushing for such a long time.

And then silence, but only for a brief moment before she spoke again.

"You know, a lot of people look at me and assume I know nothing about emotions and how others feel, simply because I take things more seriously than the others. Some think the same of you, largely because you approach and execute tasks the same way I do. I still care for these Shepherds, but honestly." It was one of the reasons they got along so well; Lucina and Laurent were very like-minded people.

 _It's almost like…_ Morgan thought to herself, now beginning to realize how similar these two were.

"Yes, Lucina, we are remarkably alike, the more I think about it." Laurent knew on some level that he had a similar personality to Lucina, but now that he thought about it more, it really was shocking just how like-minded they were.

 _You two were made…_ If it wasn't clear to Severa before, then now it was obvious.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but there have been some rumors going around the camp. Some of the Shepherds have taken note of how similar you are to me. And it seems these Shepherds think that you and I are perfect…" Lucina trailed off, as Laurent immediately knew what she was suggesting.

 _For each other._ Owain had read plenty of novels and seen enough romances to see how this would play out.

"Really then? Well, what exactly do you think of these rumors?" Laurent asked nervously. If he was having trouble asking her out before, then he couldn't possibly do it now. How did the rest of the Shepherds figure out about his feelings for Lucina?

"Princess Lucina and the Sage Laurent, suddenly realizing their similarities and affections for one another and falling in love," Lucina said, imitating the thoughts of the Shepherds spreading rumors.

 _Oh my god, she knows._ All in the area but Lucina were united in that thought.

"Why, if that is not the most ridiculous thing I've heard, then I truly don't know what is. You, attempting to win me over? When neither of us have done anything of the sort in all the years we've known each other? I do care deeply for you, but it appears that they do not understand that we are just friends right now. How utterly preposterous this theory is," Lucina went on.

"Truth be told, I don't know who you harbor feelings for. But I can tell you this- ask her on a few dates or so, and see what happens. You'd be surprised how many people are shocked when I give that advice. They just think I'm incapable of understanding emotions for some reason. Anyway, I'll see you later." And with that, Lucina walked away.

If Morgan, Severa and Owain could do more to express their disappointment when they got back into the planning tent with Laurent, they would.

"I don't even know if I want to go on after listening to that. Seriously, I've listened to Grima screech and heard bones crack, but I think that's the worst thing I've ever heard," Severa said, the frustration obvious on her face.

"I'm actually impressed with Lucina. She didn't even try, but that entire conversation she had was more brutal than any insult you've come up with," Morgan remarked while looking at Severa. She would've made a witty reply, but she couldn't really argue with that last statement- even she would be hard pressed to tear someone down that badly with words, and it was common knowledge that she was one of the most sarcastic, brutally honest girls in the Shepherds.

Owain simply had his head in his hands; he was so appalled by what he had just seen that he had actually run out of words. If the other three weren't so disappointed, they'd have noticed and been worried for him.

Though his facial expression didn't give it away, Laurent was quite shocked and upset over what just happened. It was right there, she was so close to figuring it out, and she simply misinterpreted what everyone had been saying. After that, he was so surprised just by how off she was that really couldn't say much else.

"Laurent, I'm sorry, that really sucks," Severa said, trying to comfort the mage for once.

Owain was still silent, and so was Morgan. What was she going to do? It had been decided that they would try to get Inigo to start courting Lucina, but in her heart she still didn't know who to really help. She did know, however, that Laurent didn't deserve to be led on like that. In theory, she should've been happy, as the result actually made the objective easier, but instead she just felt really sad for Laurent.

"I think I should just go for now and do something else. Anything to take my mind off of that disastrous experiment," Laurent said before walking out of the tent. It was conveniently timed as well; they had to work with Inigo soon anyway.

Going back to his own tent, Laurent tried to do a multitude of tasks to distract himself from Lucina's interpretation of the rumors, but to no avail. He couldn't take his mind off her, or what she said- he even thought he was going "crazy", as some people call it, before quickly dismissing the idea. _There will be plenty more opportunities, and Morgan, Owain and Severa are helping me. I must not overthink this one conversation._ No matter how much Laurent repeated that sentence over and over in his head, he couldn't make himself any more confident.

 _Hopefully, with their help, Lucina will see me as more than a friend._

Author's Note: That is an Ayyy Lmao if I've ever seen one. RIP Laurent, he got baited like a goldfish. Anyway, sorry I've been taking so long on updates. I'm not trying to mess with you guys and girls, I've just been going through my head how to write out the conversations and dealing with school at the same time. This story is not dead, people.


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